MTJ - Mass Transit Journal

This was once a daily account of my journey into the world of public transportation. Now, it's just a sports blog.

Race To The FinishAfter a disappointing loss to New Orleans on Saturday, the Blazers came back and beat the LA Lakers last night. Impressive. Of course, the Lakers were having an off-night. Shooting-wise, I mean. The Blazers play the Warriors tonight at home. Currently, they are 1/2 game back of Utah for the last playoff spot. Denver is also 1/2 game back. It's getting down to nitty-gritty time. It will be interesting to see what happens with this last spot. It could end-up being close.

Ouch.The Blazers lost a close one in NY - 92-91, with some really questionable calls by the refs in the last minute. Ok, so refs are human, or so I hear. They are bound to make some mistakes during the course of a game, and usually they work out on both sides. But c'mon, fellas - if you can't get the calls right in the last minute of a game near the end of the season, why are you still a "pro"?

Portland beat Boston tonight, behind the team's 61% shooting and Darius Miles' 31 points. Too bad that Utah won as well, cause the Blazers are still a half game back for the last playoff spot.

A co-worker pointed out today that the Blazers have not one, but two first round draft picks next year. Whooo. They certainly should be able to supplement their already young, athletic team with that. I'd like to see them pick up Luke Jackson from Oregon if they could. Not only would that go over well with fans, but he'd be a nice addition to the team.

Speaking of Oregon, they made a miserable impression on a nationwide audience last night, losing (and losing big) to Michigan in the semi-finals of the NIT. Not only did the Ducks NOT play defense, someone forgot to take the plastic wrap off of the Oregon baskets in BOTH halves. I don't know what their shooting percentage ended up being, but it must have been in the upper thirties. And it wasn't like they were all bad shots, a lot of them were good shots that just wouldn't fall. They even started missing lay-ins in the second half. Ouch.

The Blazers are in good shape for the play-offs (at least at the current moment) with their OT win against Seattle on Saturday, the Nuggets loss to Utah and Utah's loss to LA. Keep in mind though, that the Blazers have a tough schedule coming up. Tonight they face the Knicks in NY.

Maybe the Ducks can catch the game, since they are in town for the NIT semi-finals at MSG. The Duck's probably shouldn't have won against Notre Dame, but they did. The Fighting Irish had several chances to take the lead and blew it. But what makes the Ducks a tough opponent is not their shooting. It's not their rebounding. It's not their smoothly executed offense. The Ducks are scrappy. That's what helps them win, especially in the clutch. They didn't beat Notre Dame, Notre Dame really beat themselves. Of course, it's not like the Irish were ahead at the end, and then blew it. They had a couple of opps and failed to capitalize on them.

The Blazers continue to fight tooth and nail for the last play-off spot in the West. After last night's win against the Clippers, and Seattle's thumping of Utah, Portland is now ½ game behind Utah and 1 game behind Denver for the 8th spot. The Blazers run the risk of not making the playoffs this year, something that has not happened in 22 years. They have a tough schedule ahead of them though for the last 11 games of the season: They play San Antonio twice and the Lakers twice, and they play Denver. Another cog in the wheel is that Denver and Utah play each other on Saturday, so a loss by one and a win by the other doesn't really help out. Plus, if they continue to play like they did against Houston and the Clippers, the Blazers are in trouble.

Yes, it really is a sports blogThe Blazers lost in a valiant attempt to down the East's leader last night, dropping the game to the Indiana Pacers. Just to show this isn't a Blazer blog only, and it really is a sports blog, I offer the following:

University of Oregon forward Luke Jackson scored 33 points in the 2nd half, including 3 threes in the final minutes as the Ducks defeated Colorado in OT on Wednesday to advance to the next round of the NIT tournament. The Stanford head basketball coach called Jackson the "best player in the PAC-10," and Billy Packer called him the best player NOT in the NCAA tournament.

Jackson finished with a career high 42 points, all but 9 in the 2nd half, and was 15 for 16 from the free-throw line. The Ducks trailed by 15 at half-time and were down by 18 early in the 2nd half. The Ducks went on a 17-2 run, and held Colorado to a 12 minute span where they didn't score a field goal.

Rubber Band ManEver since Blazer head coach Maurice Cheeks has worn his "special" bracelet – simply a rubber band – the team has won three games in a row, including a narrow escape with Sacramento and two convincing wins against Minnesota. Hmmm.

Playoffs still in sightThe Blazers beat Sacramento by 2 on Friday (the only team this season to beat them three times), then handed the Timberwolves another loss on Sunday. Next up – Milwaukee. By the way, Allan Iverson needs to just play and shut up about it.